First case of yellow rust found in Yamunanagar village

Shiv Kumar Sharma

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Yamunanagar, February 19

The first case of yellow rust of this rabi crop season in Yamunanagar district was detected in patches over two acres of wheat crop in Mamli village.

Stay Vigilant

Farmers should remain vigilant. They should inspect wheat crop daily. If foci are found in the fields, farmers must spray propiconozole. — JS Saini, Deputy Director, Agriculture, Yamunanagar

Scientists of the CCS Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar, and the authorities of the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, Yamunanagar, have swung into action. A team of the university, led by Dr Rajinder Beniwal (plant pathologist), visited the affected fields in the village on Thursday and took samples of plants for examination.

Jaswinder Singh Saini, Deputy Director of Agriculture, Yamunanagar, said they came to know about the spread of yellow rust in Mamli village a few days ago.

“Soon thereafter, we inspected the affected fields and got the spot spray of fungicide conducted to check further spread of the disease,” said Saini.

He said the disease was observed in patches in the SW-2 variety of wheat crop in fields of farmer Satpal Singh.

Farmers said yellow rust had reduced the yield of the wheat crop.

Yamunanagar, Ambala and Panchkula districts of Haryana are situated in the foothills of the sub-Himalyan region and so Yamunanagar is one of the yellow rust-prone districts in Haryana.

An agriculture scientist said, “Inoculum, a source of infection of yellow rust, survives on barberi (a type of weed) plants in foothill areas of the sub-Himalyan region. From there, this disease disseminates to plain areas through air. That is why the disease first occurs in this region.”